Editing Iron Age (section)

===Africa===
{{main|Iron metallurgy in Africa}}
{{See also|Nok culture|Urewe|Bantu expansion}}
[[File:African bloomery furnace types.png|thumb|Examples of African bloomery furnace types]]
Early evidence for iron technology in Sub-Saharan Africa can be found at sites such as [[KM2 and KM3 sites|KM2 and KM3]] in northwest [[Tanzania]] and parts of Nigeria and the Central African Republic. [[Nubia]] was one of the relatively few places in Africa to have a sustained Bronze Age along with [[Egypt]] and much of the rest of [[North Africa]].

[[Archaeometallurgy]] originated in numerous centers of Africa; the centers of origin were located in [[West Africa]], [[Central Africa]], and [[East Africa]]; consequently, as these origin centers are located within inner Africa, these archaeometallurgical developments are thus native African technologies.<ref name="Bandama">{{cite journal |last1=Bandama |first1=Foreman |last2=Babalola |first2=Abidemi Babatunde |title=Science, Not Black Magic: Metal and Glass Production in Africa |journal=African Archaeological Review |date=13 September 2023 |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=531–543 |doi=10.1007/s10437-023-09545-6 |issn=0263-0338 |oclc=10004759980 |s2cid=261858183|doi-access=free }}</ref> Iron metallurgical development occurred 2631–2458 BC at Lejja, in Nigeria, 2136–1921 BC at Obui, in Central Africa Republic, 1895–1370 BC at Tchire Ouma 147, in Niger, and 1297–1051 BC at Dekpassanware, in Togo.<ref name="Bandama" />

Very early copper and bronze working sites in [[Niger]] may date as early as 1500&nbsp;BC. There is also evidence of iron metallurgy in Termit, Niger from around this period.<ref name="millermintz" /><ref>{{cite report |url=http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=3432&URL_DO=DO_PRINTPAGE&URL_SECTION=201.html |trans-title=Iron in Africa: Revising the History |publisher=UNESCO |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704083407/http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID%3D3432%26URL_DO%3DDO_PRINTPAGE%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html |archive-date=4 July 2017 |title=Aux origines de la métallurgie du fer en Afrique, Une ancienneté méconnue: Afrique de l'Ouest et Afrique centrale}}</ref> [[Nubia]] was a major manufacturer and exporter of iron after the expulsion of the [[Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt|Nubian dynasty]] from Egypt by the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Assyrians]] in the 7th century&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Collins | first1=Robert O. | last2=Burns | first2=James M. | title=A History of Sub-Saharan Africa | publisher=Cambridge University Press | publication-place=Cambridge | date=2007-02-08 | isbn=978-0-521-68708-9 | page=37}}</ref>

Though there is some uncertainty, some archaeologists believe that iron metallurgy was developed independently in sub-Saharan West Africa, separately from Eurasia and neighboring parts of North and Northeast Africa.<ref name="Eggert 2014 51–59" /><ref name="Holl-2009" />

Archaeological sites containing iron smelting furnaces and slag have also been excavated at sites in the [[Nsukka]] region of southeast [[Nigeria]] in what is now [[Igbo people|Igboland]]: dating to 2000&nbsp;BC at the site of [[Lejja]] (Eze-Uzomaka 2009)<ref name=Eze-Uzomaka /><ref name=Holl-2009/> and to 750&nbsp;BC and at the site of [[Opi (archaeological site)|Opi]] (Holl 2009).<ref name=Holl-2009/> The site of Gbabiri (in the Central African Republic) has yielded evidence of iron metallurgy, from a reduction furnace and blacksmith workshop{{snd}}with earliest dates of 896–773&nbsp;BC and 907–796&nbsp;BC, respectively.<ref name="Eggert 2014 53–54">{{Cite book|title=Nok: African Sculpture in Archaeological Context|last= Eggert|first=Manfred|publisher=Africa Magna Verlag Press|year=2014|isbn= 978-393724846-2|editor-last=Breunig|editor-first=P.|location= Frankfurt|pages=53–54|chapter=Early iron in West and Central Africa|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BBn1BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA38}}</ref> Similarly, smelting in bloomery-type furnaces appear in the [[Nok culture]] of central Nigeria by about 550 BC and possibly a few centuries earlier.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Miller | first1=Duncan E. | last2=Van Der Merwe | first2=Nikolaas J. | title=Early Metal Working in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Recent Research | journal=The Journal of African History | publisher=Cambridge University Press | volume=35 | issue=1 | year=1994 | issn=0021-8537 | doi=10.1017/s0021853700025949 | pages=1–36}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1=Stuiver | first1=Minze | last2=van der Merwe | first2=Nicolaas J. | title=Radiocarbon Chronology of the Iron Age in Sub-Saharan Africa | journal=Current Anthropology | volume=9 | issue=1 | date=1968 | issn=0011-3204 | doi=10.1086/200878 | pages=54–58}} {{harvnb|Tylecote| 1975}} (see below)</ref><ref name="Eggert 2014 51–59"/><ref name="Eggert 2014 53–54"/>

Iron and copper working in [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] spread south and east from Central Africa in conjunction with the [[Bantu expansion]], from the Cameroon region to the [[African Great Lakes]] in the 3rd century&nbsp;BC, reaching the [[Cape of Good Hope|Cape]] around 400&nbsp;AD.<ref name="millermintz" />
However, iron working may have been practiced in central Africa as early as the 3rd millennium&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite journal|first =Heather |last = Pringle|title= Seeking Africa's first Iron Men|journal= Science |volume = 323|pages=200–202|date = 9 January 2009|issue = 5911 |doi = 10.1126/science.323.5911.200 |pmid = 19131604|s2cid = 206583802}}</ref> Instances of [[carbon steel]] based on complex preheating principles were found to be in production around the 1st century&nbsp;AD in northwest [[Tanzania]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Schmidt | first1=Peter | last2=Avery | first2=Donald H. | title=Complex Iron Smelting and Prehistoric Culture in Tanzania: Recent discoveries show complex technological achievement in African iron production. | journal=Science | volume=201 | issue=4361 | date=1978-09-22 | issn=0036-8075 | doi=10.1126/science.201.4361.1085 | pages=1085–1089| pmid=17830304 }}</ref>

[[File:Typical bloomery iron production operational sequence.webp|thumb|Typical bloomery iron production operational sequence starting with acquiring raw materials through smelting and smithing]]

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 from: -1000 till: 500 shift:(-50,5) text:[[African Iron Age]]
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 from: -1000 till: 500 text:[[Bantu expansion]]
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Dates are approximate
* {{color box|#f2d97f}}{{color box|#ffd880}} Prehistoric (or proto-historic) Iron Age {{color box|#cccccc}} Historic Iron Age